Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Stiles was not being over protective. Or sulking. Or anything of the sort. Though Peter would likely have a sarcastic comment about that, he was being completely reasonable.

The bar was pretty quiet, early in the night and a weekday. So Stiles had nothing else better to do than stand, arms crossed at the end of the bar watching Liam. Out of all the pack, Liam was the one Stiles felt overly protective of. A little silly considering the kid packed quite the punch and was one of the strongest in the pack, but in Stiles’ mind he was a puppy. The baby of the pack, and even before becoming Alpha mate, he’d always watched out for the kid.

His nose scrunched as he watched Liam banter with a client. Theo. Theo had been seen in here quite a bit lately, staying longer on the days a certain puppy was working. The same certain someone who had once flirted, badly, with Stiles’ himself. Creepily. And now that attention was being turned to his child. Thankfully from the bits he had overheard himself, or from Erica in the past, it seemed to be more bantering, more insults thrown back and forth than gross propositioning. At least in the beginning.

Stiles could tell as he watched that the bantering was less insulting, growling, snarling, and more teasing and, as much as it made Stiles nauseous, flirty.

“If you keep glaring like that, your face is going to stick like that, darling” Stiles startled as his mate’s voice spoke in his ear, breath tickling his ear.

“I’m not glaring, I’m observing” Stiles turned his ‘observation’ on Peter, “Shouldn’t you be doing something? Business or something?”

Peter chuckled, leaning on the bar “All done with meetings for tonight, I’m sure our dear Lydia will have a terrifying amount of paperwork for me to look into. I just thought I’d come distract you from killing someone”

Stiles huffed, “You’ve never tried to distract me from murder before, hell I’d say you enthusiastically encourage it.”

A rumble of a growl sounded in the back of Peter’s throat, like a purr “All that blood does look good on you, really brings out your eyes.” One of Peter’s fingers snuck beneath Stiles shirt, tracing over the top of his hip “But I do know that if you go after this one, you will make your favorite puppy sad”

His nose scrunched, “He could do so much better”

“A momma always wants the best for her pups” Peter teased, dipping his finger under the waistband of Stiles’ jeans. Stiles leaned back against the bar, into Peter’s touch. “Unfortunately, you do have to let him make his own choices. Though if his gentleman decides to fuck around and hurt our pup, we will make sure he does in fact find out.”

“I don’t like it when you make valid points, or when you butter me up with the vague promise of violence” Peter snorted as his little spark continued to pout.

“You know if any of my pack gets harmed, I won’t hesitate, love” Peter purred, “I’ll serve him up on a platter for you. But until that time, you have to let it go. Liam is happy, that’s what's important”

A sound of offense left Stiles’ pursed lips, his nose scrunching.

“Fine” he muttered, turning around to look at Peter. “Do you need a drink?”

Peter smirked, “Since you aren’t available at the moment, a drink will suffice”

That earned Peter an eyeroll, though it was accompanied by a quick kiss, before Stiles went to grab his favorite vintage of wine.

—

There was always something so attractive about his mate falling into Pack mom habits. He had been doing even before officially being courted by Peter and it had made his wolf incredibly pleased every time. The viscous nature of his mate was near intoxicating to his wolf, matching his own nature quite beautifully.

He knew how much his mate cared for all the pack, and though he joked about having a different favorite pup near constantly, Peter knew that Liam was always the one he was overly protective of.

Peter let his eyes wander across the bar where his youngest pack member was mostly making drinks for a couple of girls, then further down to this Theo fellow that Liam had been talking to. He had seen him quite often now, though hadn’t really thought much of it as he had been giving Stiles a wide berth after Liam’s warning to him. It would be bad for business to drive off anyone who ever flirted with Stiles, though he had thought about it once or twice. The only ones he drove off were the pushy ones that hadn’t taken a hint. The touchy ones got a warning, and then, well they seemed to just stop coming back. How odd.

Knowing now that the interest had changed made Peter take notice. The banter was one thing, but even now as Liam was distracted with drinks, Theo was watching Liam. Nothing too alarming, or overly predatory, in fact he looked rather fond.

He’d still be keeping an eye out, and he knew for a fact the whole pack would be as well. Liam was after all the youngest, and all of them felt rather protective. Not to mention, no one wanted to be the one who let Liam get hurt, Stiles' wrath alone was incentive alone.

A wine glass slid across the bar, “For the Pretty wolf”

“Thank you darling” Peter smiled, taking a sip as Stiles went off to make drinks for the slowly forming crowd.

Liam was back over with Theo, he barely caught the tone of a snarky remark as he prepped the shaker for another drink. Peter could see Theo’s eyes wandering to Liam’s arms, flexed as he started shaking the drink, even as he snarked back his own retort. Peter could see the twitch as Theo’s jaw clenched, then relaxed as he tried to keep that lazy smirk on his face.

Peter could tell that Theo was gone for Liam, even if Theo hadn’t realized it yet.

‘Oh yes,’ Peter thought as he sipped his wine, ‘I’m definitely keeping an eye on him.’ After all, a happy Liam, meant a happy Stiles. A happy Stiles meant a happy Peter.

Chapter Text

Liam remembers exactly how this all started. It was a Thursday night, not their slowest week day shift, but not the busiest either. He was just wiping down the counter when he heard the light scrap of a stool being pulled out.

“I still just don’t believe you’re old enough to drink, let alone work here”

Liam huffed a sigh as he turned to see the customer from a few nights ago sitting there with that same smarmy look on his face. Brett’s friend who had been flirting with Stiles.

Theo.

“I still don’t believe they let you crawl out of whatever hole you popped out of, but here we are,” Liam said, smiling sarcastically.

Theo raised an eyebrow, “Do you really talk to customers that way? Not a great way to get tips”

“I don’t know, last time you were here, I talked to you the same way and a very generous tip found its way into the jar. Must be my boyish charm” Liam said, wiping down a glass, and turning back to Theo again. “What do you want anyways?”

“Well seeing as how I’m sitting at a bar, I would think it’s pretty obvious that I’d like a drink” Theo said, drawing the words out.

“I just wasn’t sure if you were going to try to flirt with the Alpha’s favorite again” Liam said innocently, “Because that went so well last time”

“You know, every time you open your mouth, you get less and less attractive, and you weren’t starting high in the first place” Theo said, snarkily “I’ll keep it simple for you, I’ll have a rum and coke.”

“Rum and coke for the weasel at the bar, coming up” Liam mumbled.

“What was that?”

“Oh just repeating your order so I don’t forget it” Liam smiled. He got to work, scooping ice into a glass and then, with his back turned to Theo, drizzled the tiniest portion of rum. Maybe about half the amount they usually used, and then filled the glass with coke, before sliding across to Theo with a quick “Enjoy” before heading over to the next group.

On his way over he passed Erica, who he pulled aside for a second.

“You see that guy I just served?” he asked, and at her nod he continued “Only serve him half portions, he got pretty roundy last time and I’d hate to make more work for Jackson and Boyd” he kept his tone sweet and concerned. It wasn’t necessarily a lie, the situation could have gotten worse if Peter had gotten involved last time.

Erica grinned, knowing he was up to something “You got it, babe. I’ll pass it along to Isaac”

Liam snorted, moving on to another patron. He had gotten into a groove of mixing drinks and making small talk. He hadn’t made his way back towards Theo for a while, but noticed he was chatting with a man that had settled in a seat over.

An evil little thought passed through his head. Like a little Stiles-like demon on his shoulder was egging him on.

“Oh good, you haven’t left” Liam said leaning on the bar in front of Theo, “Your… ‘friend’ the other night came in, had a message I was meant to give you” Liam made a point of leaning closer, voice staging a whisper, “They said you might want to get checked on, that growth on your… well they said it was concerning”

Theo’s eyebrows furrowed, and he was just about to respond when the man next to him shuffled away. He watched after him, mouth agape, before he turned back to Liam with a glare.

“The fuck was that” Theo growled.

Liam tilted his head, trying his best to look confused, before breaking into shock, “Oh! Oh I’m so sorry, I got the wrong person. I’m so sorry”

The venom of Theo’s glare would have been enough to take out an elephant. Liam had to hold on to every bit of self control to not break out into hysterical laughter.

And this energy continued on and on. Anytime Theo showed up while Liam was working the trading of jabbing comments commenced.

Liam would be wiping down a counter top and Theo would happen to ‘fumble’ his drink over the counter, usually on Liam. Anytime Theo was flirting or chatting up a potential partner, Liam would make a concerned comment about the state the bathroom had been left in after Theo.

One day, as Liam was enjoying a day off, having a drink with a cute girl from his history class, Theo bumped him, causing Liam to douse her in his drink. He apologies profusely, even as she stormed away.

“Better luck next time” Theo said, clasping a hand on his shoulder, “You should probably be more careful”

Liam had to walk out the back door, before he swung at him. Instead he came back with red, healing knuckles.

He almost didn’t have the same restraint when he saw Theo a week later, flirting with the same classmate at one of the standing tables.

“Hey, can I get some service over here, for fucks sake?” Liam jumped, turning to the grouchy wolf that was sitting at the bar. He had seen him around here a couple times, the man usually made an ass of himself. He notices Erica was on the other end of the bar, mixing and chatting, while Malia was delivering drinks to tables.

“Sorry, what can I get you?” Liam asked, tossing the bar towel on his shoulder.

“No fucking respect out of you little fucking pups” the man grumbled, “You outta be calling me Alpha”

Liam took a deep breath in through his nose, trying to calm himself “What can I get you to drink?”

“Fucking little asshole” The man growled, eyes flashing red. Liam’s eyes darted over to Peter’s usual table, unfortunately it was empty. He flicked his eyes over towards the doors, catching Theo’s eyes for a second, before seeing Jackson at the doors. He had his hands full at the moment, escorting out a very drunk selkie.

A fist took hold of the front of Liam’s shirt, pulling him towards the edge of the bar, the alpha’s snarling face inches from his own.

“You little fucker, didn’t anyone ever teach you about respect? I outta teach you how to show an alpha the respect they deserve” The alpha was spitting out the words, flecks of saliva hitting Liam in the face. He could feel his control starting to slip.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Liam saw a hand poke the man’s shoulder, trying to gain his attention. The man turned, angry and eyes still flaring, grip loosening on Liam’s shirt.

A fist caught the alpha right in the face, sending the alpha to the floor nearly pulling Liam with him.

When he looked up to see Theo shaking out a fist before kneeling down by the alpha.

“You can’t teach manners when you don’t have any, bitch” He growled.

Erica came around the bar, hearing the commotion, and pulling Liam up to fuss over him, making sure he wasn’t hurt. Malia wasn’t far behind, growling at the alpha on the floor.

Jackson, having finally loaded the selkie into a cab, took hold of the alpha with Malia, leading him out with the promise that if he was seen here again, Peter Hale would be the one dealing with him.

When Erica finally seemed appeased that he was ok, he looked around. Trying to see Theo, to thank him for the help, but he just saw his back as he left the bar.

Chapter Text

The pack had gotten unbearably protective since the alpha incident in the bar. Peter had him taken off the schedule for the week, letting him know he wasn’t at fault and that the pack was here for him. He had huffed, but he understood. It didn’t make it any less annoying though.

Now he was back on shift, Boyd was working the door, while Jackson had his ‘day off’ sitting at the bar, while Peter was at his usual table. And he was on shift with Stiles and Isaac. The hatches were battened down. He was being overbearingly protected.

He knew that this is how the pack worked, if one of them was harmed they closed ranks and kept the pack safe. It didn’t mean it didn’t get frustrating.

“The cocktail shaker isn't a threat, Isaac” Liam growled, raising the shaker threateningly “but it will be getting thrown at your head if you don't knock it off”

Stiles grabbed the shaker from his hand before he could make good on his threat. He brushed a hand down Liam’s arm. “Liam, go take a quick breather, I'll deal with Isaac”

Liam huffed but nodded, heading towards the back door. He could hear Stiles making threats to Isaac's scarf collection. They sounded quite creative. It made him feel a bit better.

The cool air felt nice. He hadn't noticed how worked up he had gotten until he felt the breeze on his flushed face. He let himself lean against the wall, the coolness of the bricks seeping through his t-shirt. It had been such a long week now. A member of the pack was always orbiting him, scentmarking him, coddling him, it wasn’t so bad at first, but it was getting suffocating.

“They can tell you’re holding something back, that’s why they’re being so smothering” Liam jumped, turning to see Theo was standing in front of him, hands in his pockets.

“What?”

“You’re tense, you’re agitated, and that’s all before the overzealous pack love” Theo said, “They’re going to keep closing in until they figure out what’s bothering you.”

“The only thing bothering me is everyone thinking I’m weak and need to be babied” Liam huffed, “And you being here isn’t helping either”

“No there’s something else” Theo said, matter of factly.

“What the hell do you know?” Liam snapped.

“I can smell it on you” Theo stepped closer, “It’s practically festering, self doubt, anger, shame. It’s setting them all on edge, even Stiles, he might not be able to smell it, but pack moms know. They are attuned to their pups”

Liam grit his teeth, “I’m not a pup, I’m not a kid. I just want them to back off. I could have handled that Alpha on my own-”

“Then why didn’t you?” Theo asked, he took another step closer, not touching Liam, but close enough he could feel the warmth coming off of him, a high contrast from the coolness of the bricks at his back.

“I-”

“If you’re so capable, why did I have to take care of the Alpha?” Theo asked, leaning in “Maybe you aren’t as strong as you think, just the pack’s little bit-”

Liam didn’t even think before he swung, fist making hard contact with Theo’s nose. It sent the boy stumbling back, reeling and covering his nose. He took a moment to right himself, taking a deep breath, before he swung back. Liam doubled over as the hit made contact with his stomach. Liam growled, eyes flashing, driving forward, tackling Theo, before punching him in the face again. Theo grabbed a hold of Liam’s wrist.

“You already broke my nose” Theo panted, “Twice”

“Wanna make it three?” Liam panted, rolling off, sitting with his back against the bricks.

“No thanks” Theo huffed out a laugh, “Feel better?”

Liam sat there for a moment. Oddly enough, mild pain aside, he did feel better. Something inside of him had settled in a way that he hadn’t felt since the incident.

“Are you trying to tell me you weren’t just being an asshole?” Liam asked, looking over as Theo pulled himself up. He settled in against the wall next to Liam.

“I mean, I wasn’t just being an asshole,” Theo said, smirking. “Control isn’t just about bottling it all up, it is just as much about knowing when to let some slack in the leash. You keep a wolf on a short leash, it’ll break through it eventually. And it might be at the worst time, you might do something you regret. Maybe you need to look for an outlet for all this frustration”
Liam’s eyes meet Theo’s, he wasn’t quite sure what to make of the look on his face. There was something there he couldn’t quite understand. He looked away.

“Thank you, by the way” Liam whispered, “I never got to thank you last time”

“Dude was a jackass, deserved more than what he got, but I’m sure Peter will do worse if he ever shows his face again” Theo shrugged.

“True” Liam agreed, heaving himself up “I should get back in there, if they come out looking for me, it won’t look so good for you. Then you’ll have to deal with Peter”

Theo stood, stuffing his hands in his pockets, “Yeah, I’m not dying because of you. I’ll see you around?”

“Yeah, I’ll see you around”

With that Theo walked away, and he couldn’t stop the little bit of disappointment me felt. Liam turned, heading in the back, ready to slip in the employee area to clean up. He didn’t need the pack being more protective than they already were.

When he made it back to the bar, Isaac sent him an apologetic smile. He rolled his eyes playfully, getting back to his section. Stiles walked past, brushing a hand over his shoulder with a comforting smile.

He couldn’t tell if Stiles had scared the rest of the pack while he was gone, but they all seemed to relax a bit. Something had definitely changed. Liam felt like he could breathe.